Two tough bounces had Free State High’s soccer team down at the half, but by no means were the Firebirds out of it.

But mere minutes into the second half, Shawnee Mission East standout Molly Rappold snuck behind the Firebird defense and rifled a goal into the top of the net, which all but sealed SM East’s 4-0 victory on Tuesday night at FSHS.

“We go out and we give up that third one, and that was a killer,” coach Kelly Barah said. “It just took all the air out of us.”

After a ricochet deep in FSHS territory, Kelly Pidcoe tapped one past Elena Auer to give SME a 1-0 lead.

The Firebirds (9-6) recovered and played the Lancers even, until Addison Steiner broke free after a small collision, and blasted one off of Auer’s hands and into the net with only a minute remaining in the half.

After Rappold’s goal gave SME a commanding lead to begin the half, Steiner added another goal late.

For the most part, the Lancers — one of the top teams in the state — were able to dictate the pace of the game with crisp passing and ball control, normally a staple of FSHS’s style of play.

Auer did make several nice saves, and Abbey Casady, Margaux Gill and Kylee Loneker combined for the majority of FSHS’s offensive chances, which were seldom.

“When you give the ball away a lot, it means you’re defending the whole time,” Barah said. “We did a whole lot more of that tonight than we’re used to.”

The Firebirds will conclude their regular season at 6:30 on Thursday, when they play host to Blue Valley Southwest and former coach Jason Pendleton on senior night.